SQUA SH QUEENSLAND SQUASH NEWSLETTER © 2017 © QSM January 201 8 - Issue 1 7 QUEENSLANDER Q SQUASH NEWS Editorial Happy New Year! Well Queensland will be the center of attention in January with back to back Platinum events taking place in the Sunshine State. Redcliffe PCYC will be hosting the Oceania Junior Championships followed by the Trans Tasman Test Match between Australia and New Zealand. After that the Australian Junior Open will be played at Nerang on the Gold Coast. NERANG SQUASH & FITNESS 151 entries have been received for the OJC and just short of 200 for the AJO. Good luck to all the Queenslanders competing. The Cover: 1. Zac Alexander at the 2017 Men’s World Team Championships. 2. Rachael Grinham winning the 2017 Australian Open. 3. The Captains of the mighty Queensland Sharks, Courtney Mather and Nic Calvert, display the shield recognising the Sharks 14th consecutive victory of the overall combined team championship. 4. The incredible 2017 Sharks. Despite only winning one age group the sharks performed consistently well across all age groups to win the combined title. Squash Media has introduced a new feature to their website. Check out photos from our major events. Go to squashmedia.com.au and select Event Photos. Photos from the 2017 Q Open and Cairns International have been uploaded. If you would like squashmedia to upload photos for your event simply contact Kim .com.au on 0407126911 ... its FREE! Toni van der Kreek will be covering the Oceania Junior Championships and the Australian Junior Open. Kim Schramm 0407126911 [email protected] Tick Tock ... Under 100 Days to Go Christine Nunn S WD The 2018 Australian Commonwealth Games Team has been announced. Donna Urquhart S WD XD Rachael Grinham WD XD David Palmer will be making his 6th appearance at Sarah Cardwell WD a CG but will only play in one event with partner Zac Alexander. Tamika Saxby S Rachael Grinham will be making her 5th Cameron Pilley S MD XD appearance and has been selected as a doubles specialist! She will most likely partner Donna David Palmer MD Urquhart in the Women’s Doubles and Ryan Rex Hedrick S Cuskelly in the Mixed. Ryan Cuskelly S MD XD Congratulations to Queenslanders Zac Alexander Zac Alexander MD and Rachael Grinham on your selection. It is so pleasing to see Zac make the team. Zac had an awful experience in Glasgow in 2014. Zac was selected for his first CG team ahead of Matthew Karwalski but Matt appealed and was ultimately successful. The sad thing for everyone concerned was the time it took to go through the entire appeal process ... over 2 months! Zac was actually in the Games Village when the Court of Arbitration for Sport finally handed down their decision. After 3 days of preparation at the CG venue, Zac left the Village on the day of the Opening Ceremony! At the time Zac was absolutely shattered but today he is on top of the World. He is officially in his first CG team at home! 93 OUR AUSSIE TOP 10 PSA PLAYERS Rachael Grinham was the only Queenslander to play on the PSA World Tour during December. It’s OUT! The 2017 Australian Squash Player Annual has been published. The 4th edition can now be downloaded at the following link: ALEXANDER http://squashmedia.com.au/products/207/ASP2017.pdf Rachael Grinham #2 Sivasangari Subramaniam L SF CAS International 9-11, 7-11, 5-11 Nadine Shahin W QF CAS International 11-4, 9-11, 12-10, 11-7 (41m) Tong Tsz-Wing W R1 CAS International 11-6, 11-8, 11-2 (23m) Annie Au L R1 World Championship 3-11, 3-11, 7-11 (21m) Lisa Aitken W Q World Championship 11-3, 11-7, 11-2 (21m) Haley Mendez W Q World Championship 11-5, 11-7, 11-3 (23m) Zeina Mickawy L SF Monte Carlo Classic 11-5, 12-10, 3-11, 7-11, 4-11 (42m) Millie Tomlinson W QF Monte Carlo Classic 12-14, 10-12, 11-8, 14-12, 11-7 (59m) Tinne Gilis W R1 Monte Carlo Classic 11-3, 13-11, 12-10 (36m) PSA WORLD RANKings as at 1 JANUARY 2018 TM LM HR WHEN TM LM HR WHEN Zac Alexander 128 126 36 Sep-12 Rachael Grinham 29 32 1 Aug-04 Matthew Hopkin 130 129 89 Jul-15 Jessica Turnbull 76 78 73 Dec-16 Thomas Calvert 158 155 155 Dec-17 Taylor Jones 169 188 145 Apr-17 Alex Eustace 203 206 203 Jan-18 Courtney Mather 183 210 183 Jan-18 Joel Luca 209 212 209 Nov-17 Solayman Nowrozi 228 230 189 Jul-17 Courtney West 251 258 218 Feb-12 Lachlan Coxsedge 298 303 298 Apr-17 Nicholas Calvert 347 351 316 Feb-13 Ethan Eyles 467 522 467 Jan-16 Ben Courtice 483 551 333 Jan-18 2017 Queensland Highlights 2017 was definitely an interesting year in terms of success. It began a little sadly when we had to say “Good Bye” to Natalie Grinham at the Tournament of Champions. Grinham has officially retired from the PSA World Tour. Thank you Natalie for wonderful memories you left behind. Hayley Hankinson got the year off to a good start by winning the U15G Australian Junior Open Championship in Darwin in January. Sadly, her coach Kay Barclay passed away in early February. Zac Alexander kicked off his 2017 campaign in style dropping just 14 points against arch rival Josh Larkin at the Elanora PSA M5 event. Larkin was left shaking his head after winning their last encounter at the Brisbane Open in late 2016. Squash Australia reintroduced the Australian Closed and played the Championships in Townsville in March. It was fitting that Zac Alexander who dominated the 2016 Domestic Tour won the PSA National Closed Satellite event in straight. In September a number of Queenslanders won Australian Masters Titles: Jeff Osborne M35-39, Jim Mobbs M60-64, Brian Cook M70-74, Melissa Martin W40-44, Sue Williams W55-59, Kathy Paterson W65-69, Robyne Bamberry W75-79 and Jan Whackett W80-84. Queenslanders Nick Calvert (U19B) and Madison Lyon (U13G) won individual titles at the Australian Junior Championships in September/October. The Sharks were menacing in early October winning their 14th straight Australian Junior Combined Team Championship, October was a big month in Queensland in terms of PSA events. The Brisbane Open (PSA Closed Satellite) got things underway before an upgraded Q Open (PSA M10 and W10) was played on the Gold Coast. Rounding out the month was the staging of the 2nd Cairns International (PSA M5 and W5). Unfortunately, no Queenslanders won any of these events. Whilst nobody was shining in Queensland in October, Zac Alexander was causing havoc in Canada at the White Oaks Court Classic. The #8 seed was all conquering defeating Canada’s best two players (#2S Nick Sachvie and #5S Shawn Delierre) in the lead up to the PSA M10 final before capturing his 27th Tour Title against #4S Christopher Binnie. November saw Rachael Grinham “turn back time” to win the PSA W10 Australian Open in Darwin. The 40 year old, #1S, was all smiles after winning her first title since 2014. 2018 AFFILIATION If everyone supports, everyone gains! Full Registration $73 per year Seasonal Registration $44 per season (Season maximum of 6 Months) Monthly Registration $15 per month Remote Member Registration - See Note 1 $33 per year Associate / Social Registration $33 per year (Non-playing members) Q Squash Club Registration - See Note 2 - $250 per year Note: 1. Remote Member definition is for players whose primary club is greater than 300km from a major squash centre (Brisbane, Gold Coast, Townsville, Cairns, Rockhampton, Mackay) and entitles players to Player Insurance. Note 2. Q Squash Club Registration is for Clubs who wish to be Q Squash Affiliated and entitled to Public Liability Insurance and the other club entitlements including Government Grants, Sanctioned Events, etc. but do not have 80% of members registered. Personal Squash Affiliation Covers • Q Squash affiliation • Squash Australia affiliation • Squash Personal Accident Insurance – Info: http://goo.gl/5yctXZ • Free access to Squash Matrix / Sport HQ Portal • Member Benefits Portal – Info: http://Goo.gl/ZtmzPF Your affiliation to Q Squash is invited and would be very much appreciated. To pay simply use the following link: https://www.sportyhq.com/payment/enroll/organization/73 If you already have a SportyHQ account you just need to login. Otherwise you will need to sign up for a FREE SportyHQ account. Having problems? Email [email protected] Q SQUASH NEWS Toowoomba Needs Squash It is “the final nail in the coffin” for Toowoomba Squash! The last Squash Centre in operation in Toowoomba has been sold and will be demolished for redevelopment of the site in the coming months. Ron and Susan Crossley started their squash journey in Toowoomba in the early 80's when Susan's father was the owner of the Olive Grove Squash Centre and he needed someone to run it temporarily. Ron and Susan decided to buy the Centre in 1990, and so their involvement in squash in Toowoomba Phil Rae playing an exhibition has remained steadfast until now, a span of almost 40 match against World years. Their lives have revolved around squash, Champion Jahangir Khan at making a lifetime of wonderful memories and Premier Squash Courts in friendships within the game. Toowoomba in 1982. In the hey day of Toowoomba Squash, there were 8 known centres, and 4 large ones running competitions suitable for everyone. These were Premier, Olive Grove, Willows and Blake Street. The men's competition ranged from A to J Grade, and the ladies from A to G Grade.